


Maid By the Sea

by SesuRescue (Kigachan)



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Butcher by the Sea Grillby, Cultural Differences, Fluff, Forehead Touching, If they ended up settling in a small fishing town, M/M, MerMay, MerMay 2018, Mermaid Papyrus, Post-Pacifist of course, can you believe that's an actual tag???
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-31
Updated: 2018-05-31
Packaged: 2019-05-16 10:02:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,331
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14809178
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kigachan/pseuds/SesuRescue
Summary: Grillby visits a friend on his break!





	Maid By the Sea

**Author's Note:**

> I got the strongest urge to write for MerMay right at the end of the month ;;;;;;;; Thankfully I finished it in time!
> 
> I really liked [ this art ](https://nexusfallen13.tumblr.com/post/173988657188/mermay-days-4-and-5) that nexusfallen13 did for Mermay of the skelebros, so this is how I imagined Papyrus would look! :)

Grillby had a routine that started at the crack of dawn every day without fail. His alarm would go off an hour before he needed to leave, and half of that time was spent blearily aiming for the blurry snooze button on the side. At some point during this hour between the heaven of sleeping and hell that was work, he recalled the importance of making it to the job that he was ‘oh so graciously offered’ from the bottom of the savages’ murderers’ humans’ hearts, and armed with that knowledge he would reluctantly leave his bed and get ready for the busy day.

He always arrived 15 minutes before he was slated to open, and of course, there was always that _one_ fisherman that arrived early, large cooler in hand and tongue ready to release quips about his apparent tardiness. Yes, he was aware that they were here before he got there. No, that didn't mean he would take their items early. Ha ha, the _same fucking joke about free service;_ yes, completely original. He always lost a good amount of time humoring a customer's shenanigans with a well-timed head nod, leaving him precious minutes to prep his knives and don his waterproof gloves, boots, and overalls before the shop opened for the day.

Grillby was a butcher, and his job was to take the fresh fish that fishermen dropped off at his counter and prep them for selling. Usually, this meant beheading and filleting the fish, but every now and again a human would come with a special order and Grillby would fill it. When he was done he usually packed the fish back in the coolers they were transported in and waited for them to be picked up in the early evening before the dusk fishing frenzy. After that, he'd go home, fix himself dinner (usually never seafood related), go to sleep and do it all over again the next day.

He figured that he really shouldn't bad-mouth his job; finding a place to work as a monster was difficult. Somehow, even though they had been the cause of their banishment, humans were cautious to hire monsters unless they had a good track record. In fact, the only reason he had found a place at the butcher in the first place was that he had experience running a business.

He just didn't understand why it had to be _this_ job though. Didn't these humans see that he was a fire elemental? Water literally _kills him._ Why couldn't he, say make the knives that he used to cut the fish? He used to be quite adept at welding and blacksmithing, and since fire was second nature to him he'd be able to pick it up again fast. It was a legitimate job that needed to be done in this town, he knew it because he knew the guy that made the fucking knives. He was a nice guy, friendly, but getting closer and closer to his Dusting day every time he saw him; the man could use an apprentice and a break.

But no, it was Grillby that needed to cut the fish, it was of the ‘utmost importance’. Ugh.

All things considered, it was a pretty light job compared to running his restaurant underground. Since the fisherman came in early he tended to finish his work fairly quickly, leaving him a few hours to mull about and check out whatever caught his fancy, such as a certain interesting monster he met the other day.

Speaking of which, it was about that time to go visit them.

After double checking that all of his orders were filled and locked up tight in the freezer, Grillby rolled off his gloves, grabbed his bag, and took off in the direction of the abandoned docks at the edge of town. Along the way he nodded to a few of the other monster residents in town: Donna, the bunny who ran the general store, Gerson, the fellow who operated the bait and tackle shop, and--

“‘sup grillbz.”

Grillby turned around to see his friend from the underground and partner-in-crime, Sans. He was dressed (if one could call the haphazard way he threw on his clothes as wearing them) in the Pier’s park uniform, which consisted of a bright, garish vest and a flat-brimmed hat. He waved at Sans, gesturing to him as if to say, ‘Why are you here?’

Even though Grillby didn’t say a word, Sans was a pro at reading his subtle facial expressions and body language. “eh, you know, on my legally mandated break. you?”

Grillby held up his bag, and Sans nodded in understanding. “visiting the bf again? i understand, no time for little ol’ me anymore,” he teased, much to Grillby’s embarrassment.

“...Not my boyfriend…” Grillby crackled, shaking his head and averting his eyes from Sans’ knowing grin.

“mhm, whatever you say grillbz. i’m gonna go find someplace to sleep and freak out some tourists, have fun on your dateeeee.”

Before Grillby could argue, Sans was gone in the blink of an eye. Sighing, Grillby continued on his way, cursing past him for blabbing to Sans.

When he finally made it to the entrance of the docks, Grillby searched the water for a glimpse of his friend, and seeing no pale bones in the vicinity concluded that they had not shown up yet. Stepping out onto the wooden platforms, Grillby’s boots clunked heavily as he searched out the best place to sit and wait. Most of the wood was wet, damp from the high tide earlier that morning, but to his luck, he found a coveted dry spot near the farthest end of the docks, and so he plopped down there and made himself comfortable. He was early for their meeting, and since the monster had been nothing but prompt since their first scheduled meeting he knew they would be there soon.

“GRILLBY! THERE YOU ARE!”

Grillby perked up at the voice, directing his gaze down into the water. A pair of bright eye-lights stared back at him, a wide, toothy smile on the other’s skeletal face as they emerged to the surface. They grabbed onto the corner of the dock and with a small grunt hoisted themselves out of the water to sit next to Grillby, leaving the end of their long, boney tailfin to dip back into the murky depths.   

“...Hello, Papyrus,” he replied with a smile.

He first encountered Papyrus a few weeks ago on one of his breaks. Something had pissed him off that day, probably a customer demanding too much of him, and he had traveled farther than he usually did to burn off his anger when he spotted a washed-up monster trying to crawl inland. Grillby had gone to help, only to find that the monster wasn’t just any monster, but a _mermaid_ , as in the types of monsters parents would tell stories about to their kids. He had thought that they were just a myth but, well, when one was literally staring him in the face it was hard to dispute.

After he saved Papyrus they entered into a friendship of sorts; every day the two of them would hang out on Grillby’s lunch break and chat. Grillby usually told him different stories about the Underground and his new job aboveground and Papyrus would listen intently, hanging on every word as if it were the most important story he had heard in his life. It was...really nice having a monster pay so much attention to him. Even on the best of days Sans was usually half-asleep whenever they talked, but Papyrus was energetic, cheerful, and well Grillby wouldn’t admit this out loud, but a little handsome as well.

“HEY,” Papyrus started, knocking Grillby back to the present, “DID YOU BRING THAT THINGAMABOB I ASKED FOR?”

Thinga…Oh! Grillby nodded, dragging his bag around to his lap and opening it. Papyrus had described a particular puzzle he wanted to try from the surface world last week, but it had been surprisingly difficult to find through regular means. However, thanks to Sans’ quick thinking and a sketchy pair of girls in an alleyway he had finally found what he was looking for: a Rubix Cube.

“WOWIE, HOW DOES IT WORK?” Papyrus asked as Grillby carefully placed it into his open hands, his nimble fingers carefully turning the cube so he could inspect it from every angle with childlike wonder.

“... You have to make it so that each side is a solid color,” Grillby explained. He held his hand out for the puzzle and Papyrus returned it with a confused look.

“HOW?”

“...Different sections of the puzzle turn on an axis, allowing you to change the sides bit by bit. Since it’s a three by three cube, it’ll turn in sections of three.” To demonstrate, Grillby grasped the top of the cube and turned the top row to the left, rotating the colors until the row snapped back into place.

He thought Papyrus looked interested in the item before, but now the mermaid was utterly fascinated. Papyrus’ fin splashed at the surface, sending up a small wave of water as he eagerly went to swipe the item from Grillby’s hands, and in his haste accidentally brushed their fingers together.

It wasn’t quite certain who had first established the no-touching rule when they first met, though if Grillby had to guess it must’ve been him, born out of a fear of being injured. He just didn’t know how the biology of a water-dwelling mythical monster worked; sure he was out of the water, but who knows? Maybe his bones were naturally covered in transparent water magic, and maybe if he touched Grillby he might harm him. A completely logical conclusion and Papyrus had thought so too, and with that reasoning in mind, the two decided to refrain from contact.

Regardless of the rules, their hands lingered on top of each other now, and the cube, forgotten in their surprise, fell over the edge of the docks with a small _plop_ into the water. How could Grillby think that such perfectly smooth bone could be anything but perfect? Papyrus’ hands weren’t deadly; they were--

“SO WARMMMMMM,” Papyrus purred happily. He brought Grillby’s hand up to his cheek and placed it there before grabbing the other. “I HAVEN’T BEEN THIS WARM IN--WELL, FOREVER! IT FEELS SO NICE…”

“...And you’re so cold…” Grillby breathed. It wasn’t like he hadn’t felt the cold sensation of bone before; Sans always managed to find a rare uncovered part of his flames to stick his hands in, but it was just...different. Refreshing, maybe? He couldn’t quite put it into words, but if Sans felt like a sharp winter breeze, Papyrus felt more like a gentle spring wind. He gazed up at Papyrus’ face, blushing as the pure happiness radiating from Papyrus’ body gathered him up in its aura.  

“CAN I…” Papyrus scooted closer to Grillby, averting his eye-lights away with tints of orange dotting his face. He took in a deep breath before continuing. “CAN I TOUCH YOUR FACE WITH MINE?”

“...I...uh…” Grillby sputtered as he tried to come up with an answer. Every vein of magic in his body pointed to yes, but his mind prevented the words from surfacing. To compensate for this, he shyly nodded his head.

Surprisingly, Papyrus did not kiss him as he expected. Instead, he laced their hands together and very gently brought his forehead to Grillby’s and rested it there. Their mouths were close, but not close enough.

Grillby tried not to despair over the clear rejection, but all things considered, they should’ve been smooching by now! Did he misread the obvious romantic tension happening between them these last couple of weeks? Love was an integral part of a monster’s being so he knew he had fallen deeply in love with Papyrus, but maybe it wasn't reciprocal? Was it possible that mermaids weren’t able to feel compassion and love like he was able to?

A deep, pleasant sigh briefly pulled Grillby up from the spiraling darkness of his thoughts to glance up at Papyrus, noticing for the first time how bright the other’s face was. “...Are you okay? You’re looking very...flushed. Am I too warm?”

Papyrus blushed harder. “WHAT? I--NO, I’M FINE. I JUST...YOU DON’T KNOW WHY?”

“...Why what?”

“WHY I’M BLUSHING, YOU SILLY. IS THERE A CULTURAL DIFFERENCE HERE?”

Grillby pulled away, confused. “...Sorry, I don’t understand what’s going on here.”

“OH GOSH, I SHOULD’VE BEEN MORE SPECIFIC WHEN I ASKED! I JUST ASSUMED IT WAS THE SAME FOR ALL MONSTERS. FOR MY SPECIES, TOUCHING FOREHEADS IS A VERY INTIMATE ACT. I HAD BEEN...PINING AFTER YOU FOR AWHILE NOW, BUT I WASN’T SURE HOW YOU FELT…” Papyrus trailed off as he looked down, twiddling his fingers together. “BUT TODAY I THOUGHT ‘WOWIE, GRILLBY MIGHT ACTUALLY LIKE ME’, SO I UH, WENT FOR IT, NYEH! WAS I OFF THE MARK?”

Papyrus...liked him too? And he...pressed their foreheads together, which is an intimate act for them so…Grillby felt his soul lurch to the bottom of his core as he had a realization.

“...Did we just have...relations?” Grillby croaked out.

“OH MY GOD, NO!” Papyrus screeched, loud enough for a few birds to scatter into the air. “GOSH, I DON’T THINK I CAN GO _THAT_ FAR UNTIL AT LEAST OUR TWENTY-THIRD DATE. THIS WAS MORE OF A ROMANTIC GESTURE, A WAY TO SHOW AFFECTION BETWEEN BONDED MONSTERS--”

“...Oh, it’s a kiss.”

“A WHAT?”

“...Here, let me just show you.” Grillby leaned forward into the embrace, nuzzling his forehead against Papyrus’ for a brief moment before pressing their mouths together softly.

 

Later on when they were much farther in their relationship Grillby and Papyrus would go on to swap many different types of affection between them, most of them far superior to a simple kiss, but for now, it was the most precious act of all.

**Author's Note:**

> So the ending was supposed to be completely different for this fic, but when I was writing it this came out instead ahahaha. Hope you enjoyed it! 
> 
> Thanks for reading! <3 feel free to bother me at my NSFW tumblr: [Sesurescue](http://Sesurescue.tumblr.com)


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